An old man with a youthful face and crane-white hair entered the auction hall accompanied by a young man.
The old man had a ruddy complexion and strode along briskly. Even his physique was more robust than that of most young men in society. Following behind him, the young man looked around curiously, evidently fascinated by the place.
"Zhan'er, don't let yourself be distracted by these worldly things," the old man said calmly.
The young man immediately lowered his head, furrowed his brows, and reined in his gaze with an expression of awe. However, he had been following the old man for more than a day or two, and the two shared a deep bond, so he soon said with a smile, "Master, after we get our hands on that Supreme Jade Emperor's Heart Seal Subtle Scripture plaque, if there's still time, can I look around?"
The old man suddenly glared at him, startling the young man so badly that his heart began to pound. The old man said, "You worthless disciple, how many times have I warned you not to draw attention to yourself? The world is filled with demons and monsters, and there are countless demons and monsters. That jade token is of immense importance. If word gets out..."
Before he could finish, the young man continued with a solemn expression, "If word gets out, it will inevitably attract the covetous eyes of those evil sorcerers and demonic practitioners. The martial world will be thrown into a bloody storm, and we won't be able to cultivate the Dao in peace and quiet! Master, did I recite that correctly?"
"Enough!" The old man snorted. "From now on, keep your mouth shut and silently recite the sect's heart scripture a hundred times."
The young man opened and closed his mouth... but stubbornly failed to utter a word. He truly did not dare disobey his master's command, so he could only lower his head and follow along, silently reciting the sect's heart scripture that he had long since grown tired of.
Just then, a flustered man in his thirties wearing old black-rimmed glasses suddenly collapsed ahead of them—right toward the old man.
The old man reacted swiftly and deftly caught the man, only to see that his eyes were tightly shut, his face pale, and his forehead covered in cold sweat.
The old man frowned, pressed a palm against the man's back, and forcefully pinched the philtrum beneath his nose.
The man quickly regained consciousness. "I... what happened to me?"
"Your inner breath suddenly became disordered, and then your essence, qi, and spirit went out of control. If it weren't for this old Daoist... if it weren't for me, you would have at least suffered a serious illness." The old man had already stood up.
The man did indeed feel a warm current flow into his body. The splitting headache he had felt before had eased, and he hurriedly thanked him. "Thank you, old sir. Thank you, old sir."
After saying that, the man hurried into the main auction hall.
"What kind of person is that? You saved him, and he just ran off after barely saying a few words?" the young man said indignantly, unable to let it go.
The old man replied indifferently, "Have you finished reciting the heart scripture?"
"No, not yet... I'll recite it right away. Starting now..." The young man hurriedly shut his mouth.
The old man acted as though nothing had happened and slowly entered the venue.
"Miss, the 150,000 deposit has been successfully charged. If you don't purchase anything at this auction, we will refund the full amount. This is your bidding number; please keep it safe. Also, this is one of the original copies of the auction guarantee you signed. Please keep this safe as well. And this is my card. If anything comes up, Miss, you can contact me at any time."
You Ye nodded and calmly accepted the receipts and documents from the man said to be the auction house manager. She left his card behind, however, and turned to walk away.
A young female receptionist accompanying them secretly chuckled. This woman is unbelievably beautiful. Unless someone has made a special study of fashion, they wouldn't be able to tell that the clothes she's wearing are a new outfit from a famous international brand, just released for this year's spring-summer fashion season.
Not to mention that simple shoulder bag of hers. It would be enough to cover the manager's salary for most of the year. How could she possibly be interested in a greasy, powdered pighead like you?
I just wonder who that young man waiting over there is—the one who can make this ice-cold woman reveal such a graceful, moving smile.
He doesn't look like a young master from a wealthy family. Could he be a kept pretty boy? No... probably not.
While the female receptionist was letting her imagination run wild, the portly manager who had been snubbed slammed his hand on the desk. "Xiao Wang! I'm stepping away for a moment. Keep an eye on things here! Don't let anything go wrong!"
"Yes, Manager," Xiao Chen hurriedly replied. Yet when the manager turned around, he rolled his eyes and thought, I heard Gu Yue Zhai is sending a great beauty this time too. Judging by that deadbeat's expression, he probably wants to get close to her... He's just a pighead. He should take a look at what he's actually made of.
However, Xiao Chen did not seem to examine what he himself was made of. He simply put on a welcoming smile, his face whitened by a thick layer of foundation.
You Ye had already reached Luo Qiu, who was waiting for her. She asked softly, "What are you looking at?"
"Oh, I just saw something interesting." Luo Qiu smiled and recounted how he had seen an old man support and save a man. "I don't know what happened, but that man seemed really nervous. Could that old man be an old Chinese physician? Maybe he was particularly skilled at massage or something?"
"It might be a technique called 'qi' passed down from ancient times in the East," You Ye said softly.
Luo Qiu had originally intended to ask in surprise whether qigong really existed in this world... But thinking of the club's existence, as well as the butterfly yokai and mantis yokai he had just met, he felt that qigong was not such a remarkable thing after all. Thus, he instead asked, "Are there many people who understand qigong?"
"It is 'qi,'" You Ye corrected him. "More accurately, it is Cultivating and Manipulating Qi, which is different from the qigong passed down among ordinary people. As for whether there are many, that is difficult to say. However, I once heard an Eastern Daoist practitioner who came to the club say that the Daoist practitioners of the present day only possess the peripheral branches and minor details, far inferior to those of the past. There are probably only a few hundred left. Many inheritances disappeared amid the changes of history."
Luo Qiu smiled. "Then it is probably much the same as traditional craftsmanship. It has been lost."
"Master, the auction is about to begin. Let's go in," You Ye reminded him.
Luo Qiu checked the time. "All right... By the way, I heard we had to pay a deposit. How much did you pay?"
You Ye smiled. "Not much. It wouldn't even buy a spoonful of the caviar you usually eat."
"Really..." Luo Qiu nodded, lacking any real concept of the amount.
Although caviar was commonly served in high-end restaurants, it was also sold in ordinary packages on the market. To Luo Qiu, who had not studied such things much, it was simply an abstract figure.
This deposit seems pretty reasonable...
Luo Qiu reached into his shirt and touched the White Jade Token he carried with him. Perhaps it was only his imagination, but he noticed that the thing seemed to have warmed slightly when he entered the auction hall.
He had intended to take it out and examine it carefully, but at that moment he felt uncomfortable. He turned his head and saw someone staring at him without blinking.
If he remembered correctly, it was none other than the man the old man had just helped.
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PS1: My stomach has been acting up these past two days... I went to the hospital for an IV. It was acute gastroenteritis, probably because I ate too many zongzi these past few days. I'm truly sorry for the reduced updates.
PS2: But the recommendation votes have still been going up, which makes me so happy. I feel like recommendation votes are just like zongzi—even if my stomach is acting up, I can still eat lots of them~
PS3: Also, here's a group number: 307841437. Since it's a new group, I'm currently the only one in it.
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